Cities Fit For Cycling

CTC’s AGM and National Dinner was held this year in Sheffield. With the AGM meeting out of the way, members sat down to enjoy a meal and celebrate the achievements of 2011.

CTC welcomed Times reporter Kaya Burgess, who spoke about the paper's nationwide campaign ‘Cities fit for Cycling’ that was inspired by the serious injury of fellow Times reporter Mary Bowers. Kaya talked about his personal experiences of campaigning and the importance of the joint work with CTC to push through changes resulting in more and safer cycling for people in Britain.

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After a hugely positive debate on cycling in the House of Commons, CTC has called on Transport Secretary Justine Greening MP to support an action plan for ‘more and safer cycling’.

CTC has called on Transport Secretary Justine Greening MP to support an action plan for ‘more and safer cycling’, following a hugely positive debate on cycling in the House of Commons this afternoon. CTC also echoed calls from MPs for the restoration of Cycling England in order to co-ordinate delivery of this plan.

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The Times' campaign to improve safety was widely welcomed and many have come out in support, but criticism of the aims and execution was inevitable. CTC's main concern is that the campaign doesn't acknowledge the health benefits of cycling.

Most non-cyclists when asked why they don't cycle will probably list one of the main reasons as 'it's too dangerous!' This perception of danger often rests on poor understanding of the actual risks - usually most non-cyclists only view of cycling is through their windscreen as they nervously try to overtake a vulnerable looking cyclist at the side of the road. However, some of those concerns are justified: you may be less likely to die in a mile cycling than a mile walking, but you are even less likely to be killed while driving.

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The Times has launched a campaign to improve cycle safety following the serious injury to a reporter on the paper. An 8 point manifesto has been published, with the focus on lorries, junctions, cycle infrastructure and 20 mph as the default urban speed limit.

In November last year Mary Bowers, a journalist at The Times, was crushed by a lorry while cycling to work in east London. She remains in hospital unconscious 3 months on.

In response to this horrific event her colleagues on the paper have now launched a major campaign to increase safety for cyclists in Britain. In doing so they have taken advice from CTC and other organisations and come up with an 8 point plan of action.

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